Due to heat and then rain and also general busyness, the riding isn't progressing well. We've been out only once in the past two weeks. (Ride #17)
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I think I finally understand the difference between grand and great when applying the terms to relations. Grand describes 2 generations removed, and great is for 3 generations, and you use great grand together as far as I understand. None of you were any help, though. 😁😎 (Except for Ed who replied after I wrote this.)
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The stove appliance repair guy was here yesterday. Sue was downstairs to greet him when he arrived. I was up here in my den doing something or other.
But I like to make my presence known even though m'lady always has it all in hand. I think there's a measure of security in being aware that there is a male in the house.
By the time, I finished what I was doing, and it didn't take long, he was on his way out the door. He determined right off the bat that a new board would have to be installed, and that he would be back.
Thank goodness for extended warranties. This is the third appliance, including the car, that has required a new board in the past few years. In each case we have had an extended warranty. I am not sure if the cost of the warranty was much less than the new part, but, somehow, working the cost into the purchase price, seems better than being hit with a big unexpected charge later.
The extended warranty also came in handy when I drowned my camera a few years ago, but not by much, I must admit.
However, you look at it, that's 4 times in recent years that we've made use of an extended warranty. This doesn't mean that I am advocating that others purchase them because I am still not sure overall. I am just saying that we were grateful to have one in these 4 cases.
In point of fact, buying warranties for many products is probably a waste, but it has worked for us in these cases. I am thinking that it may be a very good idea with appliances that contain advanced circuitry. It depends on the price and the commodity, however. I am not sure that it would be worth it on a product of $300, for example.
A good warranty that I did purchase was on our tv. It was set up so that if the tv did not need servicing before the warranty expired, we could add the value to the purchase of another product. So it was that we used it to help purchase a Blu Ray player to replace the older DVD player.
A big question, however, is why these boards insist upon frying themselves.
But mine is not to reason why.
19 comments:
No idea here.
It is indeed unfortunate that you have experienced these failures, AC, and you have a point about extended warranties. That said, we have never purchased one with a recent exception. Grenville purchased one to cover electronics failure for the newer car bought last Dec. it was quite costly, but he decided to buy it as any failure could be costly. It is nit a lifetime warranty but only for 3 years.
With increasing poor craftmanship (or is it now many times crafted by robots? I wonder what that should be called...) anyway poor craftsmanship needs those extended warrantees. Glad you got coverage 4 times. I've never purchased that plan, and am now a bit worried. Oh well. I'll consider it when buying my next car.
The house we bought here in NH has a great fancy gas stove. The extended warranty on the stove expired in Dec 2020 shortly after we moved in. In February the "mother board" controlling the oven went out. We had it replaced. Less than a year later it happened again and we replaced it with a reconditioned board. We also put a surge protector at the outlet to plug the stove in and we had an electrician come and dedicate a circuit to the stove. So far so good. If it happens again I don't know if replacing the board is worth it but to replace the stove with the same features will be really costly.
About grand and great. It doesn't apply to aunts and uncles. You're the great aunt or uncle just one generation removed. The term grand aunt used to be used now and then, but I think great is the common term. But don't ask me what removed means. The explanation just won't sink in to my memory.
Good on you for having those extended warranties. I do wonder why things break so often these days.
We struggle to decide if extended warranties are worth it. Sounds as if they definitely are for you.
We genealogists have what is called the "g rule" which determines how many generations are between two people. Basically you just count up the letter G's in the title and that tells you how many people exist between you and that person. For example, your great great great great grandfather has 5 g's which means that five people exist between you and him. Grandfather only has 1 g so only one person exists between you and him, your father.
I used to work in the appliance industry and I can give you some incite on why boards are being replaced more and more. In the early days, circuit boards were basic hard wired and very simple things that did relatively few tasks. Those machines were full of various temperature, pressure, and various other sensors elsewhere that provided the board information to do the task at hands. Those sensors are the weak link but were fairly easy to replace. Flash forward to modern times, control boards now have all the various sensors built on board and integrated. It allows manufacturers to really get all the electronics in a compact design and any wiring is built into the board. It is a huge money saver. But as you may guess, the tradeoff is that when those sensors fail, you can't just replace the sensor, you have to replace the entire board and that is a huge cost on the consumer.
P.S. I neglected to mention that providing parts, i.e. circuit boards, is a huge money maker to manufacturers as the markup on parts can sometimes be several hundred percent versus the actual appliance where they may only make 10% of the total cost in profit to remain competitive with other manufacturers.
It looks like your question has already been answered about great versus grand! Any time there is a new appliance, the repairs on it are catastrophic. It's never anything small and cheap. I think you're wise to let people know that there are two people living there. I like to have John here if I have strangers coming to pick up anything. He's a big guy and looks imposing.
If, buying an extended warranty would ASSURE that the appliance would perform flawlessly without any needed repairs, my curmudgeonly side would be all for buying them. But, the reality that I have found in the few instances where I have purchases said and tried to use it due to some mechanical failure…. either the particular repair needed is “not covered” or the price of the repair has been far lower than the amount of monies I have paid for the warranty.
With the above personal examples, today I now tend to feel rather sour and view with a jaundiced eye the extended warranty offers I receive. I WISH they felt more helpful to me…. instead of the “scam” sort of vibe most create in me.
I am glad that you have had success with them, but I have not had similar success.
PipeTobacco
You were fortunate to have the extra warranty. We never buy them. Maybe we should.
The only extended warranty I have bought was for my car after my mechanic recommended it because of all the pricey electronics on cars these days. So far so good though.
Too many appliances fail too quickly these days.
Good for you!
The debates on great and grand are educational for me. These terms are applied loosely in the current world.
Warranties are a waste of time. So are insurances. I would just keep these to the minimum because I don't expect any compensations when it comes to that.
The whole warranty issue confounds me. When the clerk reaches that point, I say: "It better not break!", and refuse the purchase. Of course, I don't keep track of when I might have used a warranty.
It baffles me too.
I hear you about the male presence. Repairpeople get a lot politer when JG shows up and they realize HE knows what they are talking about.
At least, I will warrant, you are not bored.
Sorry.
I really think a lot of appliances and electronics have planned obsolescence built in. I love the idea of being able to put your warranty toward another product if the original product did not need servicing. I would buy the warranty if that were the case.
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